In An Instant
by Azure dream
Summary: A series of canon-compliant 'missing scenes' from LOK. Tahorra, Makorra, Masami, Bolin being awesome, and spoilers everywhere.
1. Chapter 1

Tahno strode into Narook's Noodles with his head held high. His bending was gone but he had gotten the championship pot for the fourth year running. He may not have been an athlete anymore, but he was still rich and handsome, and that was more than enough for his fangirls to circle him again. Hell, if anything it had made him more popular; sympathetic, even. His table at the back was still his, and his former rivals still sat in the front, now with their firebender and Miss Sato on one side of the table.

He glanced over, sliding his eyes across the table for the briefest moment, and caught her gaze. Bright, icy blue eyes greeted him – they nodded to each other almost imperceptibly. And then he glided past, until he heard the scraping of a chair against the floor behind him.

"Tahno, wait!" It was her, Avatar Korra, rising up to run after him. He dismissed his floozies to the table, standing midway through the noodle joint to confer with the most powerful bender in the world. Looks like he hadn't lost his status, either.

"Korra." He murmured, leaning close. Like the old days. He glanced back at her table, smirking at the astonished faces of her teammates. Miss Sato was composed as usual, of course.

"Tahno, I'd been thinking." Her voice was low, urgent. She had a secret for him! He turned to her, smiling lightly at her tone. "You've been to the best healers in the city, but none of them compare to what our tribe does at home. Have you heard of the Spirit Oasis?" He let his mind wander a moment, letting the old legends pass through his memory. His mother had been a Swamp Bender, but they had tales of an elder who was attuned to the Earth. He would speak of such things.

"Once, a long time ago. Northern tribe, right?" The young woman nodded, her eyes slightly downcast. Tahno had always thought her pretty, but she was most beautiful when she was a bit angry. He wondered how to bring that out in her today.

"Right. So the water from the Oasis is blessed; it's practically a portal to the Spirit World. If you were going to be healed, that would be the only way. You have more than enough money to travel; if I gave you a letter or something so you could get help at the Oasis, would you go and try it out?" Tahno's smile was soft and a little sad.

"Do you really know this will help, Korra? Are you sure you aren't just feeling guilt?" She glared up at him now, and Tahno smirked. This was the Avatar he knew; this was his favorite Korra.

"Of course I know! It's my job to know. If you don't want my help-" Leaning down, Tahno had pressed his forehead against hers with a barely audible 'shhh.'

"Of course I want my bending back. But you're much cuter when you're mad at me." She sputtered, blushing furiously, and Tahno stifled his laugh, pulling on her wrists slightly to make her stay still. "Since you've been so helpful, I want to do something in return," he whispered, still smirking. His eyes slid over, peeking at the table where her teammates sat. The earthbender was shocked, slurping his noodles with wide eyes, never taking his gaze off of the pair. The firebender was caught between an air of indifference and outright anger, while Miss Sato sat on his right, curiosity finally etching her features. Tahno's gaze slid back to Korra.

"Which one is it? The earthbender likes you, but the firebender looks angry that I'm even standing so close." He didn't have to see her blush this time, they were so close. He felt the heat radiate from her cheeks as he continued to guess. "But then, the earthbender was with you last time. You'd be taken by now if it were him." Korra stared down at the floor now, and he knew he was right. He backed away a few inches, giving her room to breathe as he laughed.

"You know Korra, there's only one way to catch a guy like that." Now she looked hopeful, eyes wide, leaning in as if to ask what he meant, and he grinned. She was very cute. His answer was to lean down quickly, grabbing the back of her neck gently with his left hand, and kiss her.

He felt her gasp as his mouth closed over hers, felt her pulse quicken under his hand, felt the heat beneath her skin. Her mouth was open and he accepted the invitation, his tongue probing gently into her mouth, tasting water tribe food, salt, seaweed, and something else, something…Korra. Her hands were on his chest, but she was likely too shocked to push away, and instead he enjoyed the feeling of her pressed against him, all curves and heat. And then he heard chairs scraping the ground, so he released her.

She was dazed, blushing, blinking at him like a confused winged lemur. He chuckled as she regained her composure, but before she could yell, before she could push away the hand that now gently held her chin, he spoke.

"Let him know he's not the only one looking." Korra blinked once more as Tahno dropped his hand, and he could feel her eyes on him as he turned to her table and _winked_, thoroughly enjoying the shocked, enraged faces of her team. He turned back to walk to his own table and stroked Korra's hair one last time as he passed, nodding almost imperceptibly. The clock on the wall told him it had been 5 minutes or less since his arrival, but he had the feeling everything had changed.

* * *

**A/N:** This is my first fanfic in YEARS and my first LOK fanfic at all, so I'm sorry for choppiness and whatnot. I just had so many feels about Makorra and Tahorra and whatever, I had to get them out! In any case, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading :D


	2. Chapter 2

Set directly after "The Aftermath", Mako and Bolin discuss sense and sensibility. No Tahno, precious little Korra and Asami.

* * *

Upon their arrival to the Air Temple, the newcomers are given a few basic rules. They will pay no rent, but they will participate in the upkeep of the island during their stay. They may sleep in and visit each other as they wish, but unmarried women and men stay in separate dormitories. They may come and go as they please, but if they ever wish to eat dinner with the family they will be at the table by 6; all meals served on the island are vegetarian, so if they want meat they will have to venture to the mainland. Tenzin sounds exhausted, worn down as he explains; eventually, Korra waves her hand at him and nods, and Tenzin smiles faintly.

"Korra can tell you the rest. Good night." As Tenzin stalks off, Korra points out where men and women sleep and says they can meet her at breakfast if they want a tour of the island. As a sort of joke, she mentions one last rule: don't tease the sky bison. At least, Mako thinks she is joking, until he sees how her smile does not reach her eyes._ Do not tease the sky bison._ Then she shuffles her feet a bit, looking everywhere but at them, and says that she should be going. She has work to do before the morning.

"Korra, you're beat. Shouldn't you be going to the dormitory too?" Bolin asks, head tilted, looking skeptical. Korra shrugs and smiles.

"Waterbending is strongest at night. I have some things I want to practice." She says goodnight to them all, walking off into the dark, and Mako wonders if she is practicing because she needs work or simply time to think.

Bolin turns to leave, muttering to him about giving them some time to themselves. Mako responds by telling Bolin, quietly, to put both bunks in one room for tonight. The boys know each other; Mako needs to make sure Bolin is safe, at least this one night. It's a reversion, it's childish, they hadn't even shared a room at the mansion – but Bolin doesn't mention any of this. He only nods and walks away, telling Asami good night and carrying Pabu on his shoulder.

Asami did most of her crying on the airship, and her eyes are pink now where they were red then. Her makeup, normally perfect, is slightly smudged, her hair has fallen out of place, and Mako doesn't know if he's ever seen her like this. They hug again, and he holds her so tight it's a wonder she can breathe at all and it might have been moments or minutes or ages, but finally the hold weakens, and they are distancing themselves.

"I'm right here," he points his thumb back toward the men's house "if you need me, Asami." She nods, takes a deep breath and stands up taller than before, and they turn away from each other for the last time that night.

...

Bolin is on his bunk, awake and in his undershirt and shorts, idly playing with Pabu's tail. Mako has changed into his sleepwear and sat on his bunk, gazing out the window into the island night, the empty courtyard and gazebo on the distant hill. It's Bolin that finally breaks the silence.

"This might be bad timing, but I have to ask," he starts, and Mako doesn't know whether to roll his eyes or turn around. If Bolin knows it's bad timing, why is he saying it? "You said Korra is great, but it makes more sense for you to go for Asami. What kind of sense? And what does sense have to do with this, anyway?" Now Mako is too confused to look at anything else and he turns to Bolin, his jaw dropping. All of the action and the drama and the revelations tonight and Bolin wants to talk about relationships?

"I mean, Asami is beautiful – don't look at me like that, did you think I was blind? – strong, generous and crazy rich, but besides that last one, what does she have that Korra doesn't?" Before Mako could begin to stutter out an answer, blushing somewhere between anger and embarrassment, Bolin continued. "Sure, she doesn't set fire to things when she's annoyed, and she's probably way more cultured than Korra. I guess those boil down to personal preference." Mako doesn't want to talk about this, not now, so he says something he probably shouldn't in a tone he definitely shouldn't use.

"I don't see why you care. You and Korra are just friends now, right?" The moment the words pass his lips he wishes he had bitten them back, but Bolin doesn't miss a beat.

"You're right. Korra and I are friends – at least, friendly enough that I don't threaten to leave her when we disagree." The stare Bolin uses now is accusatory, and his frown is the picture of disappointment. Mako looks away, obviously uncomfortable.

"You heard about that."

"Of course I did. You really hurt her feelings." Bolin sighs, leaning back against the wall. "We have to trust her, Mako. She saved my life. She's never been anything but good to us."

"That's just it, Bolin. She's great, she's generous and helpful and kind but even her kindness ends up being dangerous. She's always under attack from someone whether it's an equalist or a politician or the cops. When I met Asami it felt like everywhere Korra went, trouble surrounded her, and I thought Asami was going to be removed from all that, I thought she would be the safe choice." Before he can say another word, Bolin is shaking his head, interrupting.

"Mako, didn't you hear Tenzin at the arena? This is war, now. There is no safe choice." Bolin yawned and pulled the sheets to the side so that he could get beneath the covers. "I don't know, bro. It was going to hit us eventually, as long as we stayed in Republic City, as long as we were halfway famous benders. Being friends with the Avatar probably didn't help, but…we're here now, you know? We're here and she needs us." With that Bolin turned over and mumbled good night, allowing Pabu to rest above his head on the pillow. Leave it to Bolin to say something important while looking ridiculous…

Mako looked out the window again, lost in his thoughts.

* * *

**A/N:** please assume Bolin and Korra talked on the airship; I would have included that scene, but I didn't find a place where it fit. I had to write in a humbling scene for Mako though, because it kind of irked me that he has trust issues with Korra but blindly believes in Asami and her father.

I prefer to write chapters after episodes so that this story fits in like lost scenes from the show, close enough to the canon that you could read it between episodes and it fits, but if I go too far off the mark I'll probably just write drabbles. Thank you for reading, and thanks to the reviewers!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Set during "Out of the Past": Mako is losing his cool, and he stops to figure it out.

* * *

There were a lot of scary days in Mako's life. Seeing his parents murdered, being thrown out into the street, the first time he had to steal dinner, going to the Triads for help – Mako had seen plenty of scary times. There was something different about today though, something gnawing at him in a way few such days could. As the group rode on the sky bison, Oogi, circling the town looking for a trace of Tarrlok, Mako finally got the chance to try and figure it out.

He had woken up completely certain that things would be alright. Tenzin and Korra would get Bolin, Asami and himself out of jail before he knew it, and they would be back to righting wrongs before the day was out. Seeing the former chief of police busting them out wasn't too much of a surprise either, until he knew why. When he heard Korra had been kidnapped, suddenly his image of a 'normal' day was gone. He had seen what she was like the last time the Equalists had held her against her will; every day at practice, hiding things, her confidence broken, shaking like a newborn fireferret at the mention of Amon. What did they do to her then? What would they do to her _now_ that they had captured and kept her?

She was the Avatar, something Mako had grown to see meant a lot more than 'bending everything' and 'keeping balance'. As they ran out of the police station, terrible options were running through his head. She could have been a political piece, the ultimate hostage; they would try to take her bending, and escalate tensions in this war even further. It was unlikely that they could debend the Avatar, so they could just try to kill her. They might have wanted to torture her, break her now because they didn't get it right the last time…his breath was catching in his throat as they took Lin's satomobile to the ferry. They couldn't get to Tenzin, couldn't get to _Korra_, fast enough. In the heat of his fear, Mako admitted to himself that beside everything else, Korra was also beautiful – and he'd seen what criminals did to beautiful women. There was no time to spare in finding her.

In the tunnels, he had been decisive. They didn't have time to bandy about, or wring their hands about direction, and in the back of his mind Mako realized he had yelled at Asami about that. He yelled at his girlfriend, hoisted a man up with one hand and threatened to burn him with the other, and seriously considered shooting lightning at the equalists that chased them out of the prison. In the compound, he had expected to find Korra any moment, doing who-knew-what, being tied down and electrocuted or trying to fight her way out all alone…

The word stuck with him, echoed in his mind. Alone. Wherever Korra was right now, locked up in Tarrlok's stronghold someplace, she was alone, exactly as she had feared. He had promised her that she could come to him for help, come to talk, for anything, and now she was probably trapped someplace, half-dead, wondering where her friends were now. The thought of it made him sick, made that gnawing feeling in his chest burn. She had gone to Tarrlok alone, fought him alone, and apparently destroyed half the place by herself. She did that for them, _and look where it got her_ and in the distance, he hears a howl.

"That sounds like Naga!" They swoop down instantly, and before he knows it he's hopping off the back of the bison. Tenzin and Lin have already confirmed it's her, and she's laying there looking half dead and are those _scars?_ and Mako can't think so he runs to her. He hears Lin questioning but Korra's eyes are only half open, and even Naga looks like she could fall down from exhaustion. "Give her some space!" Can't the lady tell Korra's hurt? She needs rest, she needs…he slides his arms under her stomach and legs, and rolls her into his arms. The briefest moment passes before he turns to walk her back to the sky bison, focused entirely on the way her breath is steady, deep and a little ragged on the exhale, the way her right arm hangs limp at her side, like she has no more strength to pull it toward her. She's bruised, cut, scarred; he can see dried blood on her in places, see scratches down her arms and missing an armband to boot, her hair is everywhere and barely contained by the ties. She's alive, and she doesn't sound like her bending is gone and her clothes are untorn and he was _so worried_.

"I was so worried," he says, because he's too relieved to filter between his brain and his mouth. "Are you alright?" His heart is pounding in his chest because she's here, alive, eyes open and _smiling_, now.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you're here." There's a word for what he's feeling now, but he doesn't want to think about it too much. She rests her head against his shoulder and equalists, bloodbenders, monsters disappear from the world. She's beautiful. Everything is beautiful, and that gnawing in his chest is finally gone. She's so close, in his arms, that he can feel her shift with each breath, feel her relax almost into slumber. He wonders if that's because she feels safe. She should. He climbs into the bison saddle and lays her down as gently as he can, hoping she doesn't wake. He can't help himself – his hand smoothes down her hair, because he's here, she's with him again.

"You're safe now." That treacherous hand runs down the side of her face and her eyes open halfway, but she closes them again and drifts off. He hears the others moving about now, but his hand lingers on the scar on her face. He wonders how she got it, but mostly he knows that whatever it was, it won't happen that way again. She won't be alone anymore.

* * *

**A/N:** So I wanted to write a story where Oogi lands on the island and the girls are all 'OMG Mako carried Korra home SQUEE!' but this is what came out instead. I had no idea I'd enjoy writing Mako so much. Thank you for reading, and please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Set immediately after "Out of the Past": It's not easy to lie to Asami Sato, so Bolin and Asami don't bother trying. Masami, Makorra, Bosami friendship.

* * *

Asami Sato was not a stupid girl.

Growing up at the Sato mansion, she had been exposed to all kinds of people and experiences – test driving and spending time with the factory workers by day, dolled up in high end restaurants and ballrooms by night, she was always observing. She had learned to defend herself physically and mentally, learned the difference between a person that wanted her and a person that wanted her money and status. It was hard, making real friends. Everyone seemed to want something from her father. Mako had been different.

Even now, she could see that. He was leaning over Korra on the saddle of the sky bison and Asami couldn't tear her eyes away. He wasn't hurting her intentionally, she knew. He was just boneheaded enough to not think about the implications of this until it was all over. Asami shook her head and turned away finally, resolving not to get on the bison. She would ride the polar bear dog back to the mansion if she had to. To that effect, she turned to Tenzin and Lin.

"Naga looks really tired. I'm going to lead her back to the island, ok?" Lin nodded, giving Asami a much softer look than she had ever seen on the older woman's face.

"Take Bolin with you," Tenzin said. "He's had some experience with Naga, in case you need to ride." Bolin turned at the sound of his name and agreed to go, and Asami silently welcomed the opportunity to talk to him again.

They watched the bison fly off before gathering the reins of the polar bear dog and beginning to walk toward the bay. Asami waited until they were at the end of their first city block to begin asking questions.

"Were you going to ride home with them?" Bolin snorted, and Asami could hear him stifling his chuckles.

"No way. Mako gets overprotective, he's going to be hovering over her all night-" Bolin caught himself there, trying to pivot away from that line as Asami frowned. "Don't get me wrong, he does this to me, too. When I was kidnapped by equalists, Korra and Naga went home and Mako ran around, cooking and trying to calm me down for hours. That's just how he is." Asami was aware of that. When her father had turned out to be an equalist Mako had held her for what seemed like hours while she cried, and prevented her from taking or destroying all of her belongings when she moved to the island. There was something different about this, though, the way he watched over Korra, searched for her. He had been angry, desperate. Surely Bolin had to see it.

"When they kissed, you were upset? How did you get over it? Why did you get over it?" Bolin pouted slightly, looking away.

"Well, I was going to ask her on a date, a proper date, flowers and dinner and everything. I really liked her, and at first I didn't get over it. I went to my favorite place and ate noodles all night, talking to Pabu about my problems." He shook his head with a slight roll of the eyes. "Mako had to carry me home the next morning. It was a disaster." As Bolin laughed quietly, Asami started.

"Wait! You mean the semifinals, when you lost your noodles?" Bolin shrugged.

"Yeah, not my best game. Mako and I were sort of arguing." It had all begun to click. Just how long had she been missing this dynamic? She had heard Korra and Mako yelling outside her father's factory about jealousy, saw Korra's discontent when Mako had first introduced them – Mako had told her so much about Korra, but hadn't mentioned a word about herself to his teammate. How long had this been going on? Asami heard Bolin talking and snapped out of her reverie to listen.

"So then we decided to be friends. We had fun, but she doesn't feel that way about me, and that happens, you know? It's no one's fault." There was something Bolin wasn't telling her, but she was pretty sure she knew what he meant. It wasn't anyone's fault, but Korra liked Mako. Spirits, if Korra and Asami had anything in common Korra had probably liked Mako from the moment she saw him.

"Bolin, besides the kiss was there anything else? Anything different between them, even when they first met, anything?" Asami didn't know why, but she wanted to know. She needed every piece of this puzzle, needed to understand. They were nearing the ferry, and she was going to have this figured out before they set foot on the island. Bolin was staring at her, his gaze soft and concerned.

"Asami, why are you doing this to yourself?" Asami stopped, staring back at Bolin across Naga's back.

"I knew she liked Mako. I suspected she had a crush during the tournament, and I thought she had put it away, gotten over it. I just need to know how long Mako's felt the same way about her." Bolin looked away, and made for the ferry at a faster pace. "Bolin, please!" Her voice had cracked, and Asami bit back any more words before she lost control. The earthbender stopped, pulled the reins forward so Naga would follow, and turned to face her.

"Look, he really cares about you. He just got confused, ok? It's a lot for him. Normally I'm the one with the girl problems." Asami nodded. It was only natural that Bolin would try to protect his brother. He took a few more steps forward and paused again, turning to talk to her. "And Korra really did back down. She said we would all be friends, and we all were, through the finals, through the equalist hunt, everything." Of course. Asami had seen how Korra felt going into the secret factory, how quickly she accepted Asami into her home. The jealousy and irritation were gone, and Korra had grown to respect her. Bolin still had not answered the question, though. Asami asked again with a lighter tone.

"Bolin, you didn't answer me. Was there anything else? It sounded like they really got to know each other when they went out searching for you. Did anything happen then?" Asami walked forward and paid the ferryman, giving Bolin time to think. She had heard the story of Korra and Mako's daring rescue of Bolin, but now she suspected there were missing parts. Bolin walked Naga onto the ship and Asami followed, staring off the side of the massive boat.

"How much do you know about the scarf?" Asami blinked, surprised.

"It belonged to your father. No one touches the scarf." Her eyes widened, surprised. It couldn't be that simple, could it?

"When they came to rescue me he didn't have it on. Korra needed a disguise - her water tribe clothing is too recognizable - so they found her a coat and a hat and used the scarf to hide her family crest." Bolin was looking across the bay at the island, and Asami sighed. Mako was an _idiot_. "I probably should have realized it then," Bolin said. "Would have saved myself a massive stomachache!" He laughed, and turned to face Asami again. "Do you feel any better?" She gave a small smile with only a little bitterness.

"Your brother is an idiot." Bolin laughed again, loudly, and Asami's smile grew. "I don't think he knew it. I'm pretty sure he's liked her this entire time and just pushed it away, " she said, quirking one eyebrow up, waiting for Bolin's response. Bolin threw up his hands, a gesture that screamed '_I know, right?_'.

"That's how I got over it. I knew he liked her, and she obviously liked him and, well, Mako gave me everything. He's the one that goes to work when we need money, he's the one that fought and scraped and took care of me after our parents died. If he likes the same girl as I do, well, the least I can do is step down, let him figure things out." Bolin played with Naga's hair, looking down as he asked. "You're not too mad, are you? Mako's not very good at thinking about himself." Asami shook her head. She had been mad, back on the streets. She had been so angry, thinking that Mako had been hiding this from her all the time. But she could see now that that wasn't it. He had been sincere; he had tried to figure things out and ended up making a mess of it. He was dead wrong to not tell Asami about the kiss, and she was going to tell him as much, but it wasn't quite as bad as she had thought.

By the time the ferry landed on the island, Bolin and Asami were laughing again. He had told her about some of the arguments he had witnessed between Korra and Mako: how evil morning practice was, why didn't you kill Tahno when you had the chance, there is no fighting dirty in the arena, for starters. It hurt to laugh at stories about Mako being so attached to another woman and she almost asked Bolin to stop, but in the back of her mind she knew she would have to get used to the sight of these interactions if she was going to keep her friends. It wouldn't be long, she knew. As much as Asami cared for Mako, she could not stand to date someone who had feelings for another, and once she got past the initial shock she was sure she put aside any romantic idea of the firebender. With any luck, her next boyfriend would be more self-aware.

Asami and Bolin watched Naga scramble through Korra's window before the walked into the house and checked on the girl herself. She was under a single sheet, still dirty, bruised and cut, asleep in her bed. Naga had lay at the foot of the bed, and Mako sat in a chair beside it, still wide awake. Bolin tilted his head and gestured for a report, and Mako smiled.

"It's ok, she's knocked out. I don't think she slept at all last night, she's exhausted. Thanks for taking care of Naga." Bolin glanced over at Asami, who smiled weakly, and he left the room, saying he was bushed too and would visit Korra in the morning. The door shut quietly behind Asami and she stood there, looking Mako in the eye.

"Asami, I-" She raised one hand, silencing him.

"You love her." Mako began to sputter, but Asami waved the hand at him again and he shut up. She lowered her arm and continued. "I was thinking about it on the way back, and it became obvious. The kiss, the arguing, the way you're always the first to pick her up, the way you two fight and play together. You're crazy about each other." With every example Mako's blush became a deeper red, until Asami wondered if he had any blood left in the rest of his body. "I don't think you realized how much you cared until she was gone, and I get that. But you should have _told me_, Mako. If you even _suspected_ you felt that way about her, you should have told me. Why did I have to find out about the kiss from someone else?" His response was immediate.

"I didn't want to hurt you, Asami. It was impulsive and confusing and I thought if we just stuck to being friends nothing like that would happen again." It was exactly the sort of answer she suspected, and it wasn't enough. "I'm so, so sorry." Mako was looking her in the eyes, and she could tell he meant it.

"I know." She sighed, and looked over at Korra's sleeping form. "I can't be with you if you feel that way about someone else. And I want us all to stay friends, but I'm going to need some space for a while, I think." She turned back to Mako, and for a moment, looking at his face, she wondered if she hadn't given up too easily. But her next thought was quick and vicious as lightning – was he ever hers at all? "Tell me when Korra wakes up. I'm worried too." Mako promised as much, and with a last glance at the sleeping Avatar, Asami walked away.

* * *

**A/N:** This probably isn't the canon way it goes down, but I can't imagine Asami staying with Mako after "Out of the Past". She's too dignified for a screaming, crying breakup, and too savvy to hold a grudge. Thanks for reading!


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